Jay White
|weight = |billed = |trainer = NJPW Dojo UK Kid |debut = February 19, 2013 |retired = }} Jay White (born 10 October 1992) is a New Zealander professional wrestler signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) where he a former one-time IWGP Intercontinental, IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion. Initially trained by UK Kid and making his debut in August 2013, White spent his first years in professional wrestling working in England, before meeting Prince Devitt, Bad Luck Fale and Shinsuke Nakamura in London, who offered him a place in the NJPW dojo, which he accepted. The following year, White joined NJPW and began training in the NJPW dojo, making his debut as a "young lion" in January 2015. As is customary for most young lions, White spent most of his matches losing to other, more experienced wrestlers, which would help put over other wrestlers while at the same time give White some in-ring, televised, experience. In June 2016, White left for an overseas learning excursion, during which he worked most notably for the American Ring of Honor (ROH) and the British Revolution Pro Wrestling (RPW) promotions through NJPW's international partnerships. White eventually returned to NJPW in November 2017, repackaged as "Switchblade", complete with a new look and a villainous persona. Just months later, White would join CHAOS stable and defeated Kenny Omega to win the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship in February 2018, which he would hold for five months. Later that year, took part of NJPW's premier tournament, the G1 Climax scoring victories over his former CHAOS stablemate and former IWGP Heavyweight Champions Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi, starting a feud with the two. In October, White would become the fifth leader of Bullet Club following the departure of the previous leader Kenny Omega. His feud with Okada culminated in White scoring his first victory at a Wrestle Kingdom event in January 2019. A month later, White defeated Tanahashi to win NJPW's top title, the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, before losing it three months later to Kazuchika Okada. In August, White made into the finals of NJPW's premier tournament, the G1 Climax losing to Kota Ibushi. The following month, White won the IWGP Intercontinental Championship holding it for three months. Professional wrestling career Early career (2013-2014) White initially trained under The UK Kid at Varsity Pro Wrestling in early 2013, and made his professional debut on 19 February, working for VPW as well as All Star Wrestling, among other promotions. In early 2014, White met New Japan Pro Wrestling's Prince Devitt and competed alongside him in a tag team match for VPW. After the match, Devitt gave White his card and told him to keep in touch. Shortly thereafter, White was contacted by Bad Luck Fale, who said that Devitt had spoken to NJPW officials about White and that he could get him a place as a young lion in the dojo if he wanted it. Several months later, White met with Fale, Devitt and Shinsuke Nakamura in London, where White accepted their offer and began finalizing his visa to leave for the NJPW dojo. New Japan Pro Wrestling (2015-2016) White left for Japan on New Year's Eve 2014, began further training as a young lion upon his arrival, and made his debut for NJPW on January 30, 2015, losing to Alex Shelley. White lost all but eight of his matches in 2015, as is common for young lions in NJPW. In 2016, White began gaining more victories, and on March 27 competed in his biggest match to date when he was defeated by then-current IWGP Intercontinental Champion Kenny Omega in a non-title match. White's final match in NJPW took place on 19 June 2016 at Dominion 6.19, when he, David Finlay and Juice Robinson were defeated by Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Manabu Nakanishi. White left for his excursion to the United States the following week. Foreign excursion (2016-2017) White debuted in Ring of Honor (ROH) on at the 25 June TV tapings, defeating Kamaitachi by disqualification and teaming with The Motor City Machine Guns to defeat Kamaitachi and The Addiction (Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian). On 8 July, White defeated Lio Rush. At the next set of TV tapings, White defeated Will Ferrara and wrestled Jay Briscoe to a time limit draw. White debuted for England's Revolution Pro Wrestling on 12 August 2016, defeating Josh Bodom. On 19 August, White competed in a fatal four way match against Kamaitachi, Lio Rush, and Donovan Dijak, which was won by Dijak. The following day, White and Rush were defeated by The Briscoe Brothers. White returned to RPW on 26 August, defeating Mark Haskins. On 30 September, White teamed with Kushida and ACH to defeat The Briscoes and Toru Yano in a quarter final match in the ROH Six-man Tag Team Championship Tournament. White, ACH and Kushida then defeated Rhett Titus, Kenny King and Caprice Coleman in the semi-finals, but were defeated by The Kingdom (Matt Taven, Vinny Marseglia and TK O'Ryan) in the final at Final Battle. White competed once again for RPW on January 21, 2017, defeating Martin Stone. On June 6th, White received his biggest title opportunity in his career when after winning a Battle Royal he unsuccessfully challenged Christopher Daniels for The ROH World Championship in a triple threat match. At Best in the World 2017 White, teaming with Search and Destroy defeated The Rebellion in a losers must disband match thus keeping the group together. Return to NJPW (2017-present) CHAOS (2018) On November 5, 2017 at Power Struggle, White returned to NJPW as the mysterious "Switchblade", who had been teased for the past several months, challenging Hiroshi Tanahashi to a match for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 12 in Tokyo Dome, before attacking him, returning as a heel in the process. The following day, NJPW officially announced the match between Tanahashi and White for Wrestle Kingdom 12. On January 4, 2018, White was defeated by Tanahashi in the title match. The following day, White would pretend to join Bullet Club, only to attack its leader Kenny Omega and challenged him for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship.http://puroresuspirit.net/2018/01/njpw-results-for-january-5-2018/ White joined one of Bullet Club's oppose factions CHAOS in order to have back up against Omega's Bullet Club, but he also threatened to take his leadership and title. On January 28 at The New Beginning in Sapporo, White defeated Omega to become the second IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion in the title's history. On June 17, White was announced to take part of the 2018 G1 Climax tournament. He lost the title to Juice Robinson on July 7 at G1 Special in San Francisco. Bullet Club (2018–Present) Later that month, White took part in his first G1 Climax tournament. White opened the tournament with victories against former IWGP Heavyweight Champions CHAOS stablemate Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi, after cheating to win his matches using tactics such as attacking his opponents with a chair and ref bumps or low blows. White's CHAOS stablemates Rocky Romero, Sho and Yoh were against White's tactics. White suffered his first losses against Minoru Suzuki on July 22 and Bad Luck Fale on July 27. He bounced back with three more victories, but a loss against EVIL on the final day cost him his place in the finals of the tournament. On September 23 at Destruction in Kobe, White attacked Okada and was joined but Okada's former manager Gedo, after he turned on him. Following the attack, Gedo nominated White to face Tanahashi for his Tokyo Dome IWGP Heavyweight Championship match contract due to White previously defeating Tanahashi in the 2018 G1 Climax. On September 30 at Fighting Spirit Unleashed, White and Tanahashi faced off in a tag team match, where White teamed with Gedo and Tanahashi teamed with KUSHIDA. White won the match for his team for his team by scoring a direct pinfall over Tanahashi and afterwards White demanded his opportunity for his contract. White received his opportunity on October 8 at King of Pro-Wrestling, unsuccessfully challenging Tanahashi for his contract. Following the match, White and Gedo were joined by Jado, who also turned on Okada and joined Bullet Club OG. White would become the fifth leader of the Bullet Club, after the departure of The Elite. On October 17, during the Road to Power Struggle, White led a Bullet Club OG assault on Okada, but Okada's rival Tanahashi made the save and Okada left the ring. Shortly after, Hiroshi Tanahashi would help Okada and CHAOS formed an alliance with NJPW home unit. During the 2018 World Tag League, White faced off in multiple tag team matches against Okada and Tanahashi, won by White and his Bullet Club stablemates. On November 3, at Power Struggle, White and Okada agreed to face each other in a match, which was later set to be at Wrestle Kingdom 13 in Tokyo Dome. On January 14, at Road to Tokyo Dome tour, White would try to help Gedo to defeat Okada in his match but was unsuccessful and Okada managed to win the match, despite White's interference. On January 4, 2019, White defeated Okada. Later that night, White challenged Tanahashi to a match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. On February 11, 2019 at The New Beginning in Osaka, White defeated Tanahashi to become the new IWGP Heavyweight Champion. He lost the title to Kazuchika Okada on April 6 at G1 Supercard. In May, White started a short feud with Hiroshi Tanahashi, after he announced his intentions of challenging for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in the finals of the 2019 Best of the Super Juniors on June 5, leading White to attack him. At the event on June 5, White defeated Tanahashi. From July 6 until August 11, White took part in the 2019 G1 Climax. White started the tournament losing his first three matches. However, White bounced back winning the remaining of his matches, culminating on August 11, White defeating Tetsuya Naito to in his block and reach the finals of the tournament. On August 12, White was defeated in the finals by Kota Ibushi. On August 25 in the third night of the Super J-Cup, White attacked Tetsuya Naito and challenged him to a match for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship, proclaiming he would become the first IWGP Intercontinental and Heavyweight Champion at Wrestle Kingdom 14 on January 4, 2019. On September 22 at Destruction in Kobe, White defeated Naito to win the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. After the match, White was attacked by Hirooki Goto, who challenged him to a title match. On November 3 at Power Struggle, White defeated Hirooki Goto to retain the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. Following the match, Naito confronted White and challenged him to a match for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. On January 4, 2020 in the first night of Wrestle Kingdom 14 in Tokyo Dome, White lost the IWGP Intercontinental Championship back to Tetsuya Naito. The following day, in the second night of Wrestle Kingdom 14, White defeated Kota Ibushi. In wrestling *'Finishing moves' **''Blade Runner'' / Shellshock (Swinging reverse STO) – adopted from Alex Shelley **''Kiwi Krusher'' (Outside leghook fisherman driver) **''Sharp Sensations'' (Crucifix hold, followed by back elbows, usually used to cause a stoppage) **''TTO-Tanahashi Tap Out / ''YTO-Yoshi Tap Out / JTO-Juice Tap Out ''(Modified Reverse Figure-Four Leglock) *'Signature moves''' **Backhand chop **Boston crab **Butterfly Prison Lock **Butterfly suplex **Cattle Multilation **Crossface **Diving Crossbody **Dragon Screw **Dropkick **Twister (Swinging Brainbuster) **Double underhook followed by multiple elbows **Fisherman's Carry Hammer Deathlock **Flapjack **Ground Cobra Clutch **Multiple kick variations ***Basement ***Baseball ***Missile ***Shotgun ***Standing **Knife-edge chop sometimes preceded by a schoolboy **''Ko-kokeshi'' (Headbutt drop) – adopted from Tomoaki Honma **Lariat **''Liontamer'' (Elevated Boston crab while kneeling on the opponent's back or neck) **Multiple suplex variations ***Belly to Back ***Saito ***Sleeper ***Snap **Muta Lock **''Nagata Lock III'' (Double underhook crossface) – adopted from Yuji Nagata **Inverted Facelock **Jumping Neckbreaker **Pendulum Backbreaker **Reverse STO, followed by German suplex **Russian Legsweep **Sharpshooter **Slingshot Plancha **Spike DDT **Ura-nage **Uppercut sometimes to a conored opponent or trapped on the ropes or sometimes followed by a Diving Forearm **Death Valley Driver *'Managers' **'Gedo' * Nicknames **'"Switchblade"' **'"The Last Rock 'n' Rolla"' **"Knife Pervert" *'Entrance themes' **"Crossbody" by Yonosuke Kitamura **"Rock the Night" by Europe (Used in ROH) **'"Switchblade" '''by Yonosuke Kitamura Championships and accomplishments *'New Japan Pro Wrestling' **IWGP Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **IWGP Intercontinental Championship (1 time) **IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *'Pro Wrestling Illustrated''' **PWI ranked him #'363' of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2016http://www.profightdb.com/pwi/jay-white-11320.html **Ranked No. 44 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2018 References Category:Wrestlers Category:Gaijin Category:NJPW Roster Category:NJPW Dojo Category:New Zealand male professional wrestlers Category:CHAOS Category:Bullet Club